Masonry Magazine June 1999 Page. 17
Thin Wall
Masonry Construction
by James E. Amhein, S.E.
Archeologists go on digs to search for lost civilizations or ruins. These ruins give an indication of the people who lived there. They are seeking outlines of communities and evidence of where and how they lived.
The major investigation is to find walls. The walls outline the community, they outline the compounds, they outline the buildings and thus give an indication of how these people lived.
The walls they seek are not wood walls, are not metal walls, they are not concrete walls, they are masonry walls. Built from the ancient times from putting stone on stone to build masonry enclosures.
As people became more cognizant of their surroundings, they began building buildings of much greater stature. Castles were built throughout Europe, cathedrals were built and throughout the world they used masonry to define themselves.
As communities developed, major buildings were the community buildings or the churches. The churches were large, they were the center of the whole area and had tall towers and thick walls, the walls were so thick, 8 to 10 feet thick, that the weather outside could not penetrate to the interior of the building.
When it was cold outside; there was a moderate temperature inside. When it was hot outside it still was moderate inside because the outside weather did not permeate and affect the interior. This phenomenon is known as a thermal inertia or heat sink effect and is used today in many designs.
Wineries store wine for fermenting in what are called caves. They are either buildings with thick walls or are built inside of a mountain so that the walls are very thick and the temperatures are very mild and do not fluctuate.
From the beginning of Stone Henge from 4000 years ago or the Great Wall of China 2000 years ago or the old St. Benedictine monastery in Ireland, 1200 AD, stone and masonry were used as a definition of civilization.